Ace Combat, the Great Mercenary
by trigun118
Summary: 15 years ago, there was a war. A war where a solo pilot soared through the skies, and then disappeared from history. But, who exactly was Cipher? What did he think of the war that he fought in? And how did he disappear from history? This is his story.


**Author's note:**

**I've always been a big Ace Combat fan, so I kinda decided to write about my favorite game from the franchise. However, the events of this story will have some differences from the actual game. Oh, and I don't own Ace Combat. **

Markus Oak sighed as he sipped from the tea-filled cup, trying to keep warm. The airbase he had been stationed at, Valais Airbase, an Air Force base located in the Republic of Ustio. He hated this cold. Absolutely hated it. But, he was here, and there wasn't much he could do about it. His wingman, who was drinking coffee let out a grunt.

"It's boring around here," He mutter, to which was a fact that Markis could agree. But, he still couldn't be too disappointed, after all, Ustio was paying him regardless weather he was on sortie or not. Just not as much as a lot of people liked. But to him, it was like a pay raise, having being a former aircraft mechanic.

Due to the need of more pilots, some of the mechanic needed to become mercenaries. Most went into the Crow team, but he was paired with an actual mercenary. Which was fine by him for the most part.

A loud beep was heard, and Markus immediately knew that it was to scramble for a sortie. "All pilots to their aircraft, we have Belkans bombers approaching. Larry looked over at him. "Come on Larry, we'd better scramble.

The five pilots rushed out and scrambled into their F-5's, already fitted for anti-aircraft missions. Most of Ustio's aircraft was destroyed during the early stages of the war, so they only had about a dozen planes left, all either F-5 Tiger II's or F-1 Kazains. The craft you went with was dependent on the mission at hand.

As Markus enter his jet, his mind was focused on the mission at hand. "Well Larry, it looks as if you won't be bored anymore," He commented,

Larry simply grunted as the canopy on his F-5 closed. "Don't get yourself too hopeful Cypher, we may be out of a job if we fail this mission." Markus nodded, taking in the fact that his wingman was right. He taxied out of the hanger, sending a quick prayer that the mission would be successful.

**20 minuets later:**

"Guess you guys managed to get up" A voice cracked over the radio. "All plains, make sure you down all the bombers, do not let them get to our base."

"You better have our pay ready," Larry bellowed over the radio. Markus just let out a sigh. Yeah, the pay was nice, but couldn't his partner think of something else. Like how many people would be saved by taking down the bombers.

"That's only if we both make it through this alive." Eagle eye retorted sharply. Larry was unfazed by his tone, though. "Just be ready to pay up, we'll be back before you know it.

Markus let the two argue for a bit, before checking his long range radar. _Okay, so we have 8 bombers, 6 escorts and no enemy awacs. I think we might pull this out. _He told himself. "Galm 2, follow all orders from galm one, free engagement is prohibited during this operation.

"This is Galm 2, Rodger that." He paused before saying, Waiting your order's cipher, you're Galm one now." Markus nodded gently. "Alright Pixy, listen up. We're going to try and take out as many of the bombers as we can. Fell free to disperse, but stay close so that we can cover each other should the need arise."

Markus noticed that one of the bombers was having engage problems. "Galm 1 to Galm 2, there is a bomber leaving the the area, recommend we ignore it in favor of conserving ammunition for the other aircraft." The flight lead. Pixy knew that their was truth to Cipher's words, but still the idea of leaving an easy target didn't exactly set right with the pilot. "If you say so."

Taking his plane around, he found himself flying behind two of the bombers, in perfect flying formation. He fired a regular missile at the bomber, and fired his machine guns at the second, sending it crashing to the ground. "This is Galm 1, I managed to shoot down two enemy bombers." Markus reported.

"Cipher, Get your tail over here and get this bird off me!" Pixy ranted, his F-5 flying around in evasive maneuvers. Markus sighed, knowing that this might have happened. "Hold on Buddy, I'll be right their." He said, turning on his after burners for a moment for increased speed. Once he got their, the pilot switched to his QAAM, or Quick Air to Air Missiles and fired once the missile lock light lit up. The enemy escort broke up in flames, and quick as a flash, Pixy dived below, and took out an enemy bomber. However, as he did so, he inadvertently destroyed the last bomber, thus ending the mission.

"Eagle Eye to all craft, all enemy bombers are destroy. Nice form, Mission complete."

Cipher and Pixy formed up into their usual formations for the return home. "I think you and me are just going to get along just fine." Pixy began, adding, "My buddy." Markus smiled a bit. "Me too, Buddy," He meowed warmly. As the two approached the airbase, they landed, and parked their jets in the hanger bay before stepping out. One of the crew workers approached them. "Base command wants you in the briefing room for a debrief." She reported. Cipher and Pixy nodded, and made their way over to the command room, which was pretty small compared to most.

"Thanks to your efforts, the enemy was unsuccessful in destroy our base." The commander began. He sighed and looked down for a monument. "Osea has agreed to give us a load-out of aircraft, four F-15's and 6 F-16's. However, they will not arrive for another two weeks, so if you can keep this base alive until then, not only will you get new jets on the house, but we'll give you each a bonus of 5,000 UD's.

Ustio currency, also called UD's, was the currency of the Ustio Republic. Before the war, it was actually worth a fairly good amount of trust giving that each dollar was backed by 10% worth of resources, mostly gold, silver and copper. No one was quite sure how much they'd be worth after the war, but Osea had agreed to repay military personal in full of pre-war value if things turned south for the former Belkan territories.

Larry's eyes lit up, Markus could tell that he was excited at the prospect of new aircraft. Markus, on the other hand was relieved. Sure, the F-5 would work as a military platform, but he knew that something like an F-15 would give him not only a better chance at surviving the war but also the ability to take down more enemy.

"Now go rest up, you have another mission tomorrow. Oh, and Galm team, we have your co-pilots picked out for you, so you won't have to worry about it." The base commander finished, giving a solute. The Five pilots returned the salute, and after being dismissed, they went along their with their day.


End file.
